title: Exogenous coproporphyrin III production by Corynebacterium aurimucosum and Microbacterium oxydans in erythrasma lesions.
abstract: Erythrasma is a superficial skin disease caused by Gram-positive Corynebacterium species. Coral-red fluorescence under Wood's light, strongly suggestive of erythrasma, can be attributed to the presence of porphyrins. Fractionated porphyrin analysis in erythrasma lesions is yet to be reported. We attempted to investigate erythrasma lesions by isolating the responsible bacteria and determining their exogenous porphyrin production by HPLC analysis. We observed a 78-year-old woman with erythrasma who had a well-demarcated slightly scaling patch on her left foot, between the fourth and fifth toes. Two kinds of colonies on 5 % sheep blood agar were obtained from this lesion. Analysis of the 16S rRNA sequence revealed the colonies to be Corynebacterium aurimucosum and Microbacterium oxydans. HPLC analysis demonstrated that coproporphyrin III (Copro III) levels were clearly elevated, although the amounts of protoporphyrin were diminished. These results indicate that the fluorescent substance was Copro III. This study supports the view that excess Copro III synthesis by C. aurimucosum and M. oxydans leads to accumulation of porphyrin in cutaneous tissue, which emits a coral-red fluorescence when exposed to Wood's light.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Surugadai Nihon University Hospital, 1-8-13 Surugadai, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8309, Japan.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yasuma
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Surugadai Nihon University Hospital, 1-8-13 Surugadai, Kanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8309, Japan.
authors.forename: Toyoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ochiai
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Information, Graduate School of Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Motoki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Surugadai Nihon University Hospital, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nishiyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Infection Control Science, Faculty of Medicine, Juntendo University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kikuchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Child Studies, Faculty of Human Life Sciences, Tokyo City University, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Information, Graduate School of Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Midori-ku, Yokohama, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Handa
mesh_terms: D000192:Actinomycetales / Q000378:metabolism*; D000368:Aged; D003306:Coproporphyrins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D003352:Corynebacterium / Q000378:metabolism; D004894:Erythrasma / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D003306:Coproporphyrins; C026971:coproporphyrin III